Cash robbery, car theft end with arrests of two

HOWLAND — Two Warren men are behind bars for a reported crime spree involving a stolen vehicle and an aggravated robbery.

Howland Police Chief Paul Monroe said that shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday, Ernest Hill, 45, and Shon Lacey, 39, both of Warren, approached a woman in the Super K parking lot on Niles-Cortland Road and demanded money at gunpoint.

When the woman refused to hand over her cash, Monroe said Hill pistol-whipped her in the face and took the cash. She was not seriously injured.

The men then fled in a Chevrolet Lumina that was reported stolen only moments earlier from the driveway of a Warren home, but drove it into the grassy area near Hollywood Video, where it became immobile.

From there, the men fled on foot into the city of Niles.

Responding to a call that two men were knocking on doors and asking for a ride at the Royal Mall Apartments near 2 a.m., the Niles Police Department discovered Hill and Lacey, who matched the description of the attackers in Howland, near the apartment complex residency office.

According to the report, the men were ordered to the ground and Hill put up a struggle, attempting to reach for the his left coat pocket, which contained a firearm. Lacey complied without force. Niles officers handed the men over to the Howland Police Department.

The two were detained at the Trumbull County Jail for arraignment Tuesday.

Hill, of Deerfield Avenue Southwest, is charged with aggravated robbery, and Lacey, of Porter Street Northeast, is charged with complicity to aggravated robbery. They pleaded innocent in Warren Municipal Court, where bail for each was set at $100,000. They are scheduled to return for a preliminary hearing Tuesday.